The owner of Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz, has said there will be no repeat of the controversial favouritism shown to Sebastian Vettel at the British grand prix.

Vettel's team-mate, Mark Webber, was furious that a new front wing was taken off his car and given to the German for qualifying at Silverstone.

Red Bull's team principal, Christian Horner, indicated after the race that, if faced with the same dilemma, he would again give preference to whichever driver was ahead in the championship, but Mateschitz has now said: "If you ask me today who will be champion, I say one of our two drivers. But the pits must not interfere because then the problems begin in earnest."

Mateschitz spelled out his opposition to favouritism in an interview with the Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung, ahead of Sunday's German grand prix. "This philosophy is not in keeping with my understanding of racing," he said. "We do not have a No1 and a No2 driver.

"Both drivers have cars to exactly the same standard. The problem with the new wing at Silverstone was the first exception.

"Our two drivers know that they have to beat the other and they still need each other to take away as many points as possible from the competition. You cannot just programme a champion. We are talking about racing – the image of blood, sweat and tears is not by chance."